Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I join Deputy Smith in welcoming Deputy Farrell on his appointment to the role of Cathaoirleach. He has made many contributions to the committee over the years so he is very well suited to take up the chair. I acknowledge the work Senator Horkan and Deputy Carey did beforehand.

I welcome Mr. Meade and Mr. Kenny to the committee again. They are always very willing to come in and engage with the committee. This must be welcomed because we all want better transport in the country. We want the opportunity for people to leave the car and to provide those options for them. I know the witnesses share those views as well. I was delighted to hear Mr. Meade welcoming the All Island Strategic Rail Review. It is the first time in my memory anyway that we have a strategic assessment of what we could have in respect of railways in this country. It takes long-term planning and a long-term commitment to financially support that type of infrastructure. It is imperative that any future government commits to the review and to prioritise those aspects of it that will give the best and quickest return as well as the best use of public money to help people have that reliable public transport.

From my experience, trying to run mainline trains and a high-frequency suburban train system on the same set of tracks always runs into difficulties. It is very difficult to timetable and to make allowances for things that go wrong, and there are many things that can go wrong. There can be delays with a train for mechanical reasons or because of passengers taking ill on board or signalling failures. That cascades all the way through the network. During peak times, that cascade effect can very quickly have a real impact on everybody trying to travel. The solution to getting that capacity on the northern line and have a high-frequency suburban system is required four-tracking from Connolly Station to Malahide. Any objective analyst would look at it and say that is the solution there.

I have looked at the route and there are a few pinch points. There are a few places it comes close to properties in the Kilbarrack area but it would seem that there is capacity for four-tracking most of the route to Malahide. I missed the reply to Deputy Smith on the analysis of four-tracking on that route.